13 pitches of Austrian Alpinism with Martin. Panorama on the Gr. Fieberhorn included all the important ingredients: huge limestone slabs, selections of vintage bolts spaced far from the crux moves, superb views to snow capped peaks and a monstrous afternoon thunderstorm creeping across the horizon.
Kolm Saigurn is the winter equivalent of a summer cragging hotspot. An adundance of small falls, artificial frozen towers for training on and a hut to finish. A great day out with Martin, even if his baby-brain led to a few confusions with untied ropes and forgotten belays.
Our first outing on Austrian ice together. Amongst other things, I learned that years of Scottish mixed climbing are not kind to axes, uphill tyroleans are very hard, and turning up early is still the right approach.
First tour of the season, and Martin and I aimed for the Vorderer Geißlkopf. I wasn't feeling so fit though, and combined with the later start we finished at the Hagener Hütte before the hard, icy ski down back to Sport Gastein.
Winter is back! Sadly too fast for our climbing aspirations, so Martin and I resorted to chest deep powder swimming on our way up to the summit of Schärtenspitze. Nice to take the axes and cams for a walk though!
A beautiful 1500m ascent to the Schöderhorn, the perfect reminder of why we moved to Salzburg in the first place. Powder right back to the valley floor - what an amazing back garden! Thanks to Rebecca, Martin and Max for setting the Austrian pace up ahead all day.
